Síndrome de burnout e uso problemático de drogas em profissionais de enfermagem em ambiente hospitalar

Abstract

Nursing professionals are potentially vulnerable to mental illness due to the work environment. Strenuous work, socializing with the suffering of others and lack of professional recognition lead to the emotional exhaustion that sometimes leads to drug abuse as a way to ease mental suffering. OBJECTIVES: To verify the relations between the problematic use of drugs and the occurrence of Burnout Syndrome among nursing professionals in a hospital environment. METHODS: Quantitative and exploratory approach study. A data collection instrument was used, consisting of questionnaires on sociodemographic and professional information, ASSIST for the use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances, AUDIT-C for alcohol use screening and associated problems, and MBI for measuring Burnout Syndrome. The level of significance (p-value) established was 0.05 for all variables. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between the variables of two dependent samples. RESULTS: The study sample had a total of 416 professionals. It was prevalence of female workers (85.2%), age group over 50 years (39.7%), married (69.5%), Catholic religion (44.1%), undergraduate degree (63.8%), and exercise time in Nursing between 1 and 5 years (22.8%). Regarding drug use, 6.7% had a moderate risk of alcohol use or dependence, 36.1% drank alcohol in binge, and 5.3% smoked moderately or dependently. It was identified that 20.7% of participants had a high level of emotional exhaustion, 17.8% had a high level of depersonalization, and 63.9% had low or moderate levels of professional accomplishment. The percentage of workers with Burnout Syndrome is 4.3%. Positive correlation was also detected between alcohol use and depersonalization and between use of sedatives and depersonalization. CONCLUSION: The identification of professional exhaustion and its repercussions help to reflect on better working and health conditions by providing discussions on interventions to improve the health of professionals and, consequently, to improve the quality of care provided.